Can You Ever Forgive Me?

After the abysmal Ghostbusters remake and the endlessly panned Happytime Murders, true fans of McCarthy will be glad to see her redemption in this dramatic turn. McCarthy really shines in her role as author Lee Israel and effortlessly portrays the loneliness and insecurity of her character. Her rapport with Grant (and even with the cat) is wonderful, and the writing is clever. This was a surprising and delightful highlight at Telluride this year.

Melissa McCarthy is not known for her dramatic roles, but this film might change that. It's the gripping story of Lee Israel, a struggling Manhattan writer who in the early 1990s undertook the extraordinary step of falsifying letters from famous people to make ends meet.

McCarthy is an eye-opener here as the hard-drinking, acid-tongued Israel, a miserable middle-aged woman who sought friendship in precious few souls, one of them being a mysterious figure on the Upper West Side portrayed with fierce verve by Richard E. Grant, who winds up becoming something of an accomplice to her enterprise. She is desperate to pay her bills. His murky story becomes more known as the film progresses. The two of them are an odd couple, as they both have setbacks and misery to look back upon, but their pessimism and misanthrope are not equally shared.

This film will offer a glimpse of nostalgia for anyone who remembers New York in a now quaint era, when struggling writers still lived as adults in Manhattan, when life was endearingly bleak and bookstores were not yet massive chains. That sense of atmosphere I greatly admire. Recommended to anyone who enjoys a scathing story of literary scheming.

Melissa McCarthy has created a character, in her career that could keep her in lucrative employment without taking any risks.

Kudos to her for playing this risky a role, and pulling it off with aplomb. Richard E Grant is whimsy to her determination, but she successfully breathes life into a complex character.

Great film

A great story, which made me sigh and left me warm. Richard E Grant was superb, doing the Richard he does do well, his eyes overflowing with feeling at times. Melissa embodied and created her character equally. Superb.

Some cracking quotes such as: Lounge Singer: This next song goes out to all the agoraphobic junkies who couldn't be here tonight.

I had laughs, sighs, a gasp or two and a cracking story. Fully entertained, I loved it.

8/10

I must first confess that I was pleasantly surprised by the exceptional performance of the actress Melissa McCarthy who is (was?) almost-systematically accustomed to cinematographic pieces of junk such as Life of the Party (2018), Ghostbusters (2016) or Charlie's Angels (2000). I sincerely hope that this film will mark a turning point in her career, with a before and an after.

Then, the subject is not really bankable: no superhero, no sexy actress, no Computer-Generated Imagery. In addition, the main characters are two insignificant loosers who will attract the wrath of the FBI because of their secret activity of a two-penny faker and will then be within an inch of jail. Of course, with such a script, the movie will probably not be a hit at the world box-office.

Nevertheless, the movie is delightfully excellent and describes with subtlety and sensitivity an ineluctable descent into the abyss. Lee Israel (Melissa McCarthy) was a writer with some success. One of her books was even mentioned in the New York Times best sellers. But, success is now part of the past and she regularly has huge difficulties in paying her rent. By chance, in an old book of a public library, she discovers a real typed letter from a well-known female writer. Begins then an improvised career of a scammer with false letters from real personalities that she skillfully engineers within her shabby apartment.

As a synthesis, Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018) is excellent! 8/9 of 10